The tourist attraction, which opened its doors to the public in July last year, has been mentioned in a planning application as part of improvements to the Porth Teigr site in Cardiff Bay.

A lack of public car park spaces is affecting customer numbers at the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff Bay, a planning report has claimed.

The tourist attraction, which opened its doors to the public in July last year, has been mentioned in a planning application as part of improvements to the Porth Teigr site in Cardiff Bay.

A report attached to the application states: "There is a perception that falling visitor numbers at the Doctor Who Experience and The World of Boats are caused by the lack of public parking."

As a result, planning approval is now being sought to add 56 additional spaces in land adjacent to the Lock Keeper’s Cottage nearby.

This temporary car park which will be in use for five years is intended to be a pay-and-display public car park, aimed primarily at meeting demand for parking by visitors to the Doctor Who Experience and the World of Boats.

The planning application report adds that although there are two multi-storey car parks in Cardiff Bay, neither of them is located on the Porth Teigr site and neither of them is particularly convenient for pedestrian access to the Doctor Who experience, especially in bad weather.

A BBC Worldwide spokesperson who represents the centre in Cardiff, has denied it was experiencing a drop in customers.

He said: “An improvement in parking in Cardiff Bay will support increased visitor numbers but there is no suggestion that visitor numbers at the Doctor Who Experience are falling.

“We do receive comments from potential visitors and visitors post-event about the lack of parking in the Bay and we welcome the move to improve the situation.”

On its website the Doctor Who Experience offers visitors an interactive journey with the Doctor through time and space and the chance to come face-to-face with some of the scariest monsters on the show including Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans.

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.